US-based car major General Motors Corporation (GM) has secured an Indian patent for invention on a control method for a hybrid power train system for vehicles.
GM Global Technology Operations Inc, which operates as a subsidiary of General Motors, filed the patent application in 2008 and subsequently assigned the rights to automobile companies such as Daimler AG, Chrysler LLC and Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengeselschaft.
According to a patent document filed by GM, the invention pertains to a control system for powertrain utilising electro-mechanical transmissions. The powertrain system includes an engine and an electric machine operatively coupled to a transmission device to a torque. The control system includes monitoring of the operator inputs to an accelerator pedal and a transmission gear selector while determining an operator torque request based upon the inputs.
GM claimed that the ‘exemplary’ engine comprises a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine selectively operative in several states to transmit torque to the transmission via an input shaft and can be either a spark-ignition or a compression-ignition engine. The output of the engine was characterised in terms of the rotational speed and an engine output torque, the company said.
Granting the patent, Santanu Dey, deputy controller of patents & designs, Kolkata said: “On considering all the submissions, documents and facts the invention as claimed in amended claims are found as novel and non-obvious according to the Patents Act and pending formal requirements have also been met. Hence a patent is granted.”
GM submitted that the control system comprises an architecture consisting of distributed modules for overall control of the vehicle. The system synthesizes pertinent information as well as inputs and executes algorithms to control various actuators in order to achieve targets including parameters such as fuel economy, emission, performance, driveability and protection of hardware.
According to GM, Ian object of the invention was to provide a hybrid powertrain control system which optimises power flow from all the propulsion system components, accounting for losses, in a manner which effectively uses on-board computing resources. Accordingly, in accordance with the invention, an article of manufacture has been provided, comprising a storage medium having a computer programme encoded therein for effecting a method to determine a preferred operating range for a plurality of torque-generative devices.
An aspect of the invention includes defining the first operating range based upon torque output for each of the torque-generative devices.
Another aspect of the invention includes defining the second operating range based upon output of an electrical energy storage device operable to provide electrical energy to each of the torque-generative devices, the company said.
